“Not really, he drank his blood?”
No wonder there was a fishy smell…
Gu Yi clutched his throat, looking as though he were mourning someone, unable to spit it out or swallow it. “Why did you feed me your blood? Are you some kind of zombie, or vampire or something?”
Bo Si gave him a sidelong look. “Zombies only suck people’s blood. They don’t take out their own blood to feed others.”
“Then you…”
“If you ask again, I’ll cut out your tongue and feed it to the dogs.”
“…”
Those words were effective. All of Gu Yi’s questions were stuck in his throat.
“There are many things that, even if I told you, you still wouldn’t understand.”
Bo Si stood up from the bedside and said, “You only need to know that I saved you. Your life is mine. From now on, whether you call me dad or boss, you’ll stay here and work for me.”
“…”
Gu Yi looked at him stiffly.
Bo Si turned back. Seeing the way he looked, as if he was desperately trying to ask but didn’t dare, amusement flashed in his eyes. “Fine, ask. But you’re not allowed to ask too much.”
“…You want me to work for you, what kind of work?” Gu Yi asked weakly.
Bo Si answered, “A coffin shop. You’ll help me sell coffins.”
“A coffin shop!?”
Gu Yi was shocked. “I, I mean, the kind for dead people, coffins?”
Bo Si nodded. “There isn’t a second kind of coffin.”
“But how could you sell coffins?” That didn’t fit his aura at all.
Bo Si’s face darkened. “What, you look down on coffin sellers?”
“No, that’s not what I mean.” Gu Yi hurriedly shook his head and said, “I just don’t know how that should be sold…”
“Later I’ll teach you. Don’t worry about so much right now.”
Bo Si had a cigarette between his lips and took another drag. “Listen up, little brat, don’t underestimate selling coffins. There’s a saying among the common folk, coffin, coffin, promotion and wealth. What we do not only lets the dead rest in peace, it also includes funeral arrangements, feng shui, selling all kinds of funeral supplies, a complete one-stop service. When there’s nothing to do, we can also help people catch ghosts, drive away evil spirits, and so on. In short, the profit from selling coffins is very high…”
Gu Yi said blankly, “So, actually, you’re a ghost-catching expert hidden among ordinary people, and you sell coffins just to hide your identity…”
“No.” Bo Si interrupted him lightly. He exhaled a ring of smoke, looked at him, and said seriously, “I really only did it because I thought selling coffins was highly profitable.”
“…”
Gu Yi choked on the smoke.
Bo Si laughed and said, “You still need practice. It’s fine, I’ll train you well later. You drank my blood, so sleep for a while first. If your eye hurts in the future, remember to tell me, I’ll help ease it.”
“Why is my eye like this?” Gu Yi still didn’t understand. “It hurt especially badly just now, but after I drank your blood, it stopped hurting. Could there be some side effect?”
“The only side effect is that from now on, you can only drink my blood. Otherwise, your eye will hurt itself to death.” Bo Si said indifferently, glancing at him from the corner of his eye. “So from now on, don’t even think about leaving me. Stay here obediently.”
“…”
Gu Yi’s mind was in chaos.
Or rather, during this period of time, he had been in chaos the whole time.
What was real, what was fake, he could no longer tell them apart.
The pain in his left eye was real, and the fishy taste in his mouth was real too.
This man called Bo Si, although he couldn’t see through him, was also truly real.
He couldn’t make sense of it. His head hurt.
Gu Yi wanted to rub his eyes, but his stomach growled.
The sound rang out in the huge room, somewhat awkward.
Especially the way Bo Si looked at him, which was even more awkward. “Hungry?”
“…”
Gu Yi didn’t speak.
How could he not be hungry, when ever since he was driven out of the Gu family, he hadn’t eaten anything at all…
Bo Si stared at him for a while, then walked to the table, stubbed out his cigarette in the ashtray, and said, “I’ll go make you food. I’ll deduct the money from your salary.”
Gu Yi hurriedly said, “Is there instant noodles? A bowl of instant noodles is fine.”
“What’s the point of eating instant noodles when you already look like this?”
Bo Si didn’t even bother turning his head. “Do you want to be a little virgin whose hair still hasn’t even grown in for your whole life?”
“…”
Gu Yi was speechless.
That night, he ate the egg fried rice Bo Si made for him and lay on the bed, falling asleep very quickly.
It was strange. After experiencing so many things, this time he slept until broad daylight.
Maybe last night’s egg fried rice was too delicious. He had never tasted such delicacy before, and although the other party was a man he didn’t know, a trace of warmth still somehow seeped from the bottom of his heart.
That night, he didn’t have a nightmare, and his eye didn’t hurt again. It was just that when he woke up, the unfamiliar environment and unfamiliar aura still left him a little at a loss.
Gu Yi got out of bed and saw that this was a spacious room, with black and white as the main colors. It was generous and simple, yet didn’t make one feel oppressed. His bed faced the window, and the morning sunlight shone in through the glass, making his face feel warm.
He hadn’t forgotten what happened last night. He knew he was in the home of that man called Bo Si, and moreover, he had been driven out of the Gu family. He was no longer a student.
Thinking of these things, Gu Yi still felt very lost.
But now, he could only comfort himself with, since things had come to this, he might as well settle down.
He still remembered last night’s conversation with Bo Si clearly. Although he remembered it clearly, he didn’t understand it. But Bo Si was unwilling to explain it to him, so probably even if he asked, it would be meaningless.
Gu Yi went toward the bathroom with his messy hair. The jade pendant was still hanging against his chest. He vaguely remembered that when he jumped off the building, this jade pendant had given off light, but looking at it now, it was the same as always, with nothing special about it.
He was still wondering about it when he reached the mirror, and then something even stranger happened!
The birthmark on his left eye was gone!
Gu Yi stood in front of the mirror, so frightened that he took a step back.
If he had had anything in his hand, he definitely would have dropped it to the floor!
How could this be? That birthmark had accompanied him since birth. Because it was so big and so black, he had been laughed at for more than ten years. He had already long since gotten used to its existence, but now, it was actually gone…
Gu Yi suddenly remembered last night in the teaching building. He had been pinned beneath Bo Si’s foot, Bo Si had covered his eye with his hand, and then his eye had begun to hurt, and blood flowed out. After that, everything was wrong. He saw the past, saw his mother struggling in a pool of blood, and also saw Bai Nuo, holding a dead infant, asking him why he hadn’t saved her. Then came the birthmark. Had his birthmark already been gone from the moment Bo Si covered his eye?
What on earth was all this, and just who was Bo Si?
Gu Yi dazedly looked at himself in the mirror. Without the birthmark, that face was completely clean too, only his brows and eyes looked somewhat tired, and his left eye was even filled with bright red blood vessels.
After Gu Yi washed up, he left the room and went downstairs. In the living room downstairs, Bo Si was already sitting on the sofa waiting for him.
Bo Si had changed into a different coat, but it was still black, and still gave people a very mysterious feeling.
Gu Yi walked over carefully. “Um, you…”
“I said it already, either call me dad or call me boss, choose one.”
Gu Yi thought about it, then still hardened his heart and called him boss. “Um, boss…”
“You still know I’m your boss?” Bo Si looked up and glared at him, holding out his watch for him to see. “Ten oh five. Late on your first day of work, no need to say more, salary deducted.”
“…Ah?” Gu Yi said innocently. “But I don’t know anything, I don’t even know where the coffin shop is…”
“Do I not know how to take you there? Talking back to your boss, believe it or not I’ll fire you. If I fire you, you won’t have a job, and you won’t have any blood to drink either. Then you’ll only be left with pain until you die.”
“Boss, I was wrong…”
Gu Yi hadn’t expected him to accept the setup so quickly.
He had never died before, so he didn’t know what death felt like. He had the courage to jump off a building, but after all, he had never truly hit the ground. The pain in his eye, though, he had really experienced. That kind of pain was worse than death.
Even though he knew very well that Bo Si would use this to threaten him in the future, what other choice did he have?
Gu Yi admitted his mistake with an active and sincere attitude, and Bo Si’s temper eased by more than half. He stood up and said, “Let’s go. I’ll take you to work.”
“Um, boss…”
“What now?” Bo Si turned back impatiently.
Gu Yi pointed at his own face. “Was the birthmark on my face removed by you?”
Bo Si’s thin lips curved. “What, do you miss it a little?”
“No, I was just trying to say, thank you…”
The boy’s blank, slightly foolish look made Bo Si unable to suppress his laughter. Smiling, he rubbed his hair and joked, “With something like that on your face, you’d probably still be a virgin at twenty-eight.”
“…”
Gu Yi found that he really couldn’t respond to this man…
“Take it.”
Bo Si threw a bag into Gu Yi’s hands.
“What is this?”
“Breakfast. Eat it on the way. If you faint from hunger, I won’t care about you.”
Bo Si walked in front, and Gu Yi followed stupidly behind.
After walking out of the house, Gu Yi only then saw clearly that Bo Si was actually living in a detached villa.
…Could selling coffins really make that much money?
Gu Yi was somewhat dumbfounded.
“What are you spacing out for? Hurry up and get in the car!”
Bo Si’s shout pulled his thoughts back to reality.
Gu Yi withdrew his gaze and trotted over, still gripping the bag holding the bread tightly in his hand.
He opened the car door, got into the passenger seat, and carefully pulled the door closed.
Bo Si rested one hand on the steering wheel and motioned to him with his eyes. “Seat belt.”
Gu Yi lowered his head and tried to pull out the seat belt, but for some reason, whether because he was nervous or still a little drowsy, his movements were very slow.
Bo Si couldn’t stand watching anymore, so he simply leaned over and helped him pull out the seat belt, fastening it properly.
“You brat, how did you live to be eighteen with how stupid you are?”
“I have a bit of low blood sugar, and I haven’t eaten, so my hands and feet aren’t very nimble.”
Bo Si patted his head once. “Then hurry up and eat. Do you want me to feed you? The longer you delay, the more salary gets deducted!”
Bo Si’s fierce tone frightened Gu Yi, and Gu Yi quickly tore open the bread and ate it.
At the mention of feeding, Gu Yi thought of the way Bo Si had fed him medicine last night, and he felt a little chill run down his back…
On the road, Gu Yi quietly ate, saying nothing more.
Bo Si drove ahead, eyes fixed forward, and only when he was almost finished eating did he reach out and point to the side of him. “Water.”
Gu Yi looked over. Sure enough, there was a black insulated cup there.
Gu Yi opened the thermos and took a sip. Immediately, a warm feeling spread through his whole body.
The car drove on and finally stopped in front of a shop.
Gu Yi saw the black signboard through the car window, with the three characters “Zhongxiang House” outlined in white.